Structure and Classification
Aethoria's noble houses are formally classified into four tiers based on land holdings, historical service to the crown, and the average mana core quality of the house lineage across three generations.
Grand Houses occupy the first tier. There are currently six Grand Houses in Aethoria. Each holds at least one full province, maintains a standing military force, holds permanent seats in parliament, and has produced at least two Platinum core individuals within recorded history. Grand Houses effectively function as minor kingdoms within the kingdom, their internal governance largely autonomous so long as they meet crown obligations.
Major Houses occupy the second tier. Approximately twenty four houses currently hold Major status. They govern districts rather than full provinces, hold parliamentary seats allocated by province rather than by right, and maintain smaller but professional military forces. The majority of Aethoria's political activity at the parliamentary level involves the negotiation and conflict between Major Houses.
Minor Houses occupy the third tier. Several hundred minor houses exist across the kingdom, their holdings ranging from a single estate with attached farmland to a small town and its surrounding territory. Minor houses hold no guaranteed parliamentary representation and exercise political influence primarily through alliance with Major or Grand Houses. The social distance between a Minor House and a Major House is in practice considerably larger than the formal tier difference suggests.
Registered Families occupy the fourth tier. Families with a confirmed noble lineage but insufficient holdings to maintain house status. Treated as noble in formal contexts, in practice indistinguishable from the merchant class in terms of actual influence.
House Knox
House Knox is a Minor House with holdings in the Greyveil district of the Valdris province. Current holdings consist of the Knox estate, approximately forty acres of attached land, and a nominal tax collection right over a stretch of road that has not been actively exercised in three generations.
House Knox has produced no core readings above Storm Silver in its recorded history. Its parliamentary influence is nonexistent. Its political alliances are limited to a dormant arrangement with House Elwyn of unclear current status.
House Knox's most recent notable action was the confirmation of a S class enrollment at Avar Academy, the first in the house's history.